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Tuesday, December 8, 2009

A big point of emphasis this year in art is going green. We are trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible. Students are learning that there are many simple changes they can make to our daily routine that will make a big impact on the amount of waste we produce. The year began by discussing what we could do in the art room to be more green. Signs and reminders are posted around the room to help everyone remember to be as green as possible! I have already noticed a huge reduction in the amount of trash from the art room. Keep it up, everybody!

4th grade students recently finished a winter project. We studied real snowflakes and the shapes they are made up of. Each student used paper mosaic squares to create several snowflakes using cool colors. The snowflakes that were made are as unique as real snowflakes. Great job 4th grade!

3rd Grade students just finished a winter themed project. They learned about the fold artist, Grandma Moses. Grandma Moses is famous for her landscape paintings that told a story through images. Every student painted a winter landscape that told a story about what they like to do outside during the winter. The project was finished by having students write a paragraph describing their work.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

2nd Grade students just finished an exciting printmaking project. We started out by reading Maurice Sendak's classic book, "Where the Wild Things Are." We discussed the features of the creatures in the book and each student designed their own unique wild thing. The designs were then pressed into a foam printing plate and used to print multiple copies of the wild thing. What you see above is the fantastic result of the project. Way to go, 2nd Grade!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

4th grade students just finished an extremely fun project. We started out by learning about the artwork of Jackson Pollock. Pollock is famous for his "splatter" paintings in the abstract expressionist style. Students got their turn to do two splatter paintings of their own. These paintings were eventually cut up and woven together to achieve the end result you see here.

2nd Grade students recently finished a project that introduced them to printmaking. We used leaves from trees around the school to make a fall themed image. Students painted colors associated with fall leaves onto the back of real leaves. When pressed onto the paper, the leaves create a very realistic image. Students made up a design to use with their leaf printmaking.

1st grade students recently learned about the artist Piet Mondrian. They learned that Mondrian used geometric shapes and lines in his artwork and that he mainly used primary colors. 1st graders used Mondrian's work as inspiration in their own primary color paintings.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

3rd grade students just finished a project involving art from Australia. We studied artwork from the Aboriginal people and learned about many kinds of Australian animals. Each student chose a native animal to draw in the "x-ray style," which is somewhat typical of aboriginal artwork. The background of the works is made entirely of dots. This was a fun and extremely successful project!

Monday, October 19, 2009

5th graders recently finished a project based on the work of Keith Haring. Haring is famous for his use of simplistic shapes and bold colors. Haring's work often dealt with important social causes or topics. Each 5th grade student completed a painting in the style of Keith Haring. Students picked a social cause that was important to them and based their work on their chosen topic. Recycling was a popular topic, but work was based on everything from anti-smoking and anti-war to one poster that encourages viewers to eat healthy food. The project was finished with a short writing project that each student completed in order to explain their artwork. These paintings are currently hanging in the art room hallway and will be up for the next couple of weeks.

4th grade students started out the year by learning about totem poles made by Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. Students learned about stylization- a way of drawing an object in which an artist adds his or her own style to what is being drawn. Each student painted a specific animal and worked together with other people at their table in order to create a two dimensional totem pole. The finished totem poles are now on display in the commons. Most are at least six feet tall!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The second project of the year for 1st grade focused on geometric shapes. Students learned that a geometric shape is often made from straight lines and these shapes usually have names such as triangle, square, or hexagon. Students used geometric shapes to create all kinds of super cool robots. These turned out really well.

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Mr. Stoller

I'm finishing my 9th year teaching art at the elementary level and 7th at Thomas Elementary. I love teaching art and sharing the cool things that go on in my art room. I try to post examples of every lesson that I do along with a full lesson plan for other teachers to use.